Caldyne to become 100% Exide subsidiary, become KPO hub

Kolkata, Jul 20(UNI) Caldyne Automatics Limited, a subsidiary of Exide Industries Limited(EIL), will be the Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) hub for foreign countries for specialised services like power electronics, research &development and battery monitoring systems.

Speaking to mediapersons here today, Exide Industries Limited CEO T V Ramanathan said the company would buyback 49 per cent share from the existing shareholders.

''After the buyback, Caldyne will become 100 per cent subsidiary of Exide Industries Limited,'' Mr Ramanathan said. The share buyback has received Exide board's approval today.

EIL Director(Industrial) Gautam Chatterjee said with expertise in power electronic technology, the KPO would be a successful business model.

''Eastern region has a huge talent pool. With BE college, Jadavpur and IITs, we can get adequate talent for this hub,'' he added.

Caldyne currently manufactures high-end battery chargers. The battery chargers are used for telecom and manufacturing sector as well. After the buyback, the EIL management would also focus on production of solar energy products.

The gross turnover of Caldyne was Rs 26 crore in the last fiscal.

Elaborating on the company's investment plans, Mr Ramanathan said the capital expenditure has been raised to Rs 185 crore this month by the board. This was Rs 140 crore three months back. The company also intends to enhance the production capacity manifold.

UNI